The New Works Playhouse Workshops: Unlocking Character with Conor Patrick Carroll

Unlocking Character with Conor Patrick Carroll

The workshop consists of a series of character-based exercises, designed to unlock the deepest emotions and drives of your protagonist. You will be asked to enter the workshop with a character in mind that you would like to understand better, and through the various tasks, you will explore new ways to enhance the inner and outer lives of those characters. Using tangible examples from well-known stories, these lessons will in turn inform your understanding of the plot, those who oppose your protagonist, and how to bring their journey to a narratively coherent conclusion. The workshop will provide plenty of opportunities to share work and discuss the topics covered in depth. Ultimately, you will leave the workshop with a series of invaluable storytelling tools at your disposal, confident in your ability to craft vivid and compelling characters.

Conor Patrick Carroll is a playwright, screenwriter, and graduate of the MA in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. He has had work produced throughout the UK with his last full-length play being It Is So Ordered which ran at the Pleasance Theatre London in April 2017. He is an alumnus of the Soho Writer’s Lab and his play Haste Ye Back was shortlisted for the ETPEP Award in 2019.

Learning Objectives: 

• For the participants to leave the workshop with a better understanding of the storytelling fundamentals which go into crafting a compelling character.
• For participants to demonstrate and improve their ability to define their characters and focus on their importance to the story.
• To emphasise the ways in which coherent and comprehensive work on a character could help to unlock other elements of storytelling that may initially seem separate e.g. structure of plot or the story world itself.
• To give the participants ample opportunities to speak about their characters and through the course of the workshop feel as though they understand them better by the end.
• To provide repeatable and valuable exercises that can be utilised outside of the workshop by the participants for future writing projects.
• To make the workshop an enjoyable experience with a sense of community by encouraging the participants to feedback on each other's ideas and work should they wish to.
• To provide tangible and useful examples for the exercises and also provide resources which the participants can look to after the workshop to expand on what they have learned.

Max number of participants

10

Estimated length

Approx 1 Hour

Introductions: 5 mins

First Discussion/Exercise & Feedback 15 mins

Second Discussion/ Exercise & Feedback: 15 mins

Third Discussion / Exercise & Feedback: 15mins

Summary & Questions = 5 mins